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Prescription Drug Costs Continue to Rise Even With Good Coverage

June 18, 2007

The preliminary Compensation Data 2007 results have revealed that nearly all prescription co-pay costs have risen since 2006.

Kansas City, Kan. — In past months, large retailers have made news with plans to reduce the cost of some generic prescriptions. Now months later, the newly-released Compensation Data 2007 preliminary results have revealed prescription co-pays have increased since 2005 for non-formulary and formulary drugs. However, generic co-pays saw little change in 2007.

Non-formulary drugs have risen steadily in cost over the last three years. POS plans had the highest co-pay $44.45 and were followed by PPO plans with $42.71, a difference ofÂ $1.74. Since 2005, non-formulary co-pays for PPO plans have increased by 10.6 percent. A larger increase was seen in POS plans, 12 percent.

While co-pays for non-formulary drugs have increased nationally, formulary drugs have also seen a consistent rise in cost across all flat dollar health plans. In 2005, the average cost of formulary drugs on PPO plans was $24.01. This number has increased by 6.5 percent over the last three years. Although PPO plans had the highest formulary cost this year, $25.57, they were followed closely by Indemnity with $25.52.

In comparison, co-pays for generic drugs have stayed between $10.00 and $11.00 for the last three years. According to the newly released results, PPO plans have an average co-pay of $10.94 for generic drugs, and POS plans are at $10.61. Since 2005, generic co-pays have seen a 1.2 percent increase on PPO plans.

About the SurveyCompensation Data 2007 contains data on 539 job titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Annually more than 5,000 organizations participate in the survey. The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefits information and pay practices with an effective date of March 1, 2007.

Compdata Surveys is the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Data is collected annually from thousands of organizations across the country. Compdata Surveys has been providing accurate, reliable data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988. For further information about the compensation and benefits surveys, contact Amy Kaminski at (800) 300-9570 or akaminski@compdatasurveys.com.